President, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
Hermann Parzinger has held the office of president of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK) — the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation — since 2008. Consisting of 27 museums, libraries, archives and research institutes, the SPK is one of the largest cultural institutions in the world. Its collections encompass all aspects of cultural tradition, from archaeological and ethnological objects to the visual arts, literature and music. During his tenure, Dr. Parzinger has been charged with overseeing two major cultural projects, namely the renovation of Berlin’s world-famous Museum Island and the realization of the Humboldt Forum (of which he was a founding director) in the reconstructed Berlin Palace.
He has conducted three decades of field research in many European countries as well as the Middle East and Central Asia. Before joining SPK, he was an assistant professor at Munich University in the late ‘80s, then director and subsequently president of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. Since 1996, he has been lecturing at the Free University in Berlin as an honorary professor.
Dr. Parzinger has received many awards, among them the Leibniz Prize, the highest scientific award in Germany. He holds several international honorary doctorates and is a member of various scientific academies in Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Romania, Russia and China, as well as being a member of the American Philosophical Society and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also the recipient of decorations from the governments of Germany, Russia, Spain and Italy. He is the author of around 30 books and more than 250 articles on various topics relating to archaeology, cultural heritage and cultural policy.
